The thing that all these people who write about religion and science miss is that the belief system in humans is built into the brain. Our brains, being fairly slow working items, need several "short cut" methods to enable us to make decisions in the time available to us. We cannot "reason out" every decision because we do not have enough time or available facts to do so.
So we have a belief system which is built up from experience or acquired knowledge or suggestions by others as to the way the world works. One of these suggestions is religion. It enables us to make decisions without really analysing the problems. We could not operate without the system, but it is often hijacked by irresponsible people for their own benefit.
It is not a built-in religious aptitude, it works for almost anything we do. If we were to switch it off we would not be able to operate in society. The fact that it can be used to our own detriment is just unfortunate, now that the unscrupulous people among us have codified how to use it for their own benefit.
As the bumper sticker used to say "Question Authority."
Sileno.
